Austin City Council designated a special tax increment reinvestment zone for a 2,645-acre Southeast Austin area known as Dog’s Head during a heated July 23 meeting, paving the way for potential housing, industrial and retail development. The vote was a crucial step in the development deal between the city and the land developer Dog’s Head Land JV, LTD. Before the vote, dozens of speakers lent both support and disapproval for the project before the City Council. “On the economic development stage, Austin is playing catch up,” the presentation reads. “The City’s economic development efforts need to level the playing field to support Austin’s fiscal sustainability.”